Lapping it up on a beautiful evening in Sunny Worthing

We (nearly) all convened at Worthing Leisure Centre . Running late due to traffic problems, Belinda met us at the task and Jay who was simply just running round in circles also joined us at the task after a quick dash from Splashpoint.

It was great to welcome back Emily back from her hols together with [Sue] from her work commitments (https://www.goodgym.org/runners/sue-c2e8c2a1-bcc6-48f6-ac03-ab9b55ab6a66)

Sue returned on an epic night as she together with Jay jointly reached their 25th good deed. Massive thanks and kudos to you both for all your energy, time and fun that you give to our group.

It was also really nice to welcome 2nd timer Chris back. Sadly no champagne or cake tonight like Chris had on his debut experience at Belinda's 100th .

However, we don't have to wait long for another reason to celebrate. Next week we will raise a glass when Anne and Nick jointly reach their 50th milestone good deed. Come and join us for this bank holiday extravaganza!

Back to tonights task....

WIth John leading the walking group he and Paula set off whilst the runners ( Paul, Chris, Jill, Roxy, Lucy, Sue and Emily )set off (and arrived) at the task second. No change there ! New walk leader John seems to have mastered the magical apparating skills very nicely. All part of the GG Worthing experience!

Mulch ado about nothing

It was good to see our breathing spaces friend Lisa at the task and she quickly put our large group to work with an interesting variety of tasks.

There was another tonne of mulchy type soil / fertiliser to shift from the bag at the front to the raised bed number 1 and 2 at the back of the allotments.

This was combined with a challenging bed of grass to dig over which was then used to raise the level of the existing grassy path.

More tasks included weeding ,edge trimming and shifting branch debris . I hope that the photos this week will reflect the diversity of this wonderful community allotment and garden that is a hidden jewel of green space in Goring.

At the risk of repeating myself it never ceases to amaze me just how much a team of happy committed volunteers can achieve in just 30 minutes!

After a great group photo ( will we get photo of the week with this one?!) the walkers and runners headed back to the leisure centre

GoodGymers keep on track

With 2 x 400 metre efforts on the springy track this was an inspiring challenge for me to watch. As I mentioned a few weeks ago we are concentrating on runner a little bit quicker over 800 metres to help improve our endurance and speed.

I felt so very proud of the efforts that I saw this evening. It was also heart warming to hear the support and applause that the team gave each other. Some great photos too. Apologies if I didn't get one of you in action. I will ensure I capture you next time!

The central GG focus for May is focusing on mental health. With this in mind do any of you have any suggestions how we can expand on this locally? I would like to suggest that we all set a fresh fitness goal that we can support each other with.

Drop me a message with yours and update your GG profile too.

Have a great week and early spring bank holiday weekend too.

Julia X P.s Special mention to John for the headline pun tonight . You have the job!!

All present and correct

Sophocles once said, “To be doing good deeds is man’s most glorious task.” In modern day this would be “To be doing good deeds is man and woman's most glorious task.” In Spanish it is loosely translated to ''Estar haciendo buenas obras es la tarea más gloriosa del hombre y la mujer "

On Belinda's special 100th task evening we were delighted to welcome Azahara and Chris for their first good deed and run with us together. What a night to join us !

We also welcomed back Andy who returned for his second visit which was a great relief to know that we hadn't scared him off last week. I had been anxiously watching the register for this weeks task all week to see if he would return!

With my trusted regulars also turning out in true GG force it was great to see Duncan, Ros,John , Paul, Nick, Jay,Roxy, Lucy,Gill and not forgetting Barbara who joined us directly at the task.

After some lively introductions and usual GG regional banter 4 walkers set off in advance of the running group for our short warm up run to Kamelia Kids which is a day nursery that supports both able bodied and special needs children.

No kidding around - Who's kidding who?!

We were warmly welcomed back to the KK by caretaker Andy who explained that the centre is having their open day this weekend so a general post winter tidy up of the outside playgrounds, frontage and several flower bed would be much appreciated. This was a big task so it was great that the team had turned out in force this evening.

The team armed themselves with gloves and tools and headed off to all far corners of the centre . They swept oodles of sand together with doing some weeding , path clearing , digging over soil and scooping up debris from Andy's hedge cutting.

Jay aka snowflake took some time out from his wheelbarrow and debris shuttling to test out the toys in the playground with some amusing results. We all knew Jay is young at heart and now we saw first hand how he likes to stay in touch with his inner child :)

40 minutes later time had flown by and it was time to capture the obligatory photo . With some fun climbing equipment including a pole for Lucy to practice and John to pose on this certainly was a fun moment to capture the final photo.

The walkers set off on their route whilst the runners set off on a slightly extended route via the Ilex trees in Goring and the seafront. The run included a crocodile drill with the back runner sprinting to the front of the single line. At times this turned into a highly dis functional activity which wasn't without its fair share of laughter and disobedience of instructions! The front group split into two but somewhat miraculously all 3 groups arrived back at base at the same time.

The fitness session at Worthing Leisure Centre track was rather sporadic with many of the group going AWOL and having to be rounded up whilst others looked at me in horror at the idea of a fitness '100' session.

For the 2nd time in 3 weeks I abandoned the idea and instead finished this memorable evening with some track 100 metre sprints. However, just like BREXIT, the fitness session will return for a 3rd attempt and even 4th if necessary to push it through!!

A picture paints a thousand wings

Without a doubt the evening belonged to Belinda and we finished it in style. Although she knew we would drink fizz she didn't realise that the team had rallied round to surprise her with 2 decorated gluten free cakes courtesy of Paulwho cooked an Orange and Polenta one and Roxy a GF chocolate mouse one.

There was also champagne, balloons and a plethora of presents including Belinda's very first exquisite needle felt from husband John made with love and presented in style which I think may have made her evening. Great work Mr R :)

Many thanks to Duncan for facilitating the room at the leisure centre and very well done to our newbies Chris and Azahara for taking all this in great spirit . We hope to see lots more of you in the coming weeks (although we cant always promise a champagne finish!)

I will leave you with a definition of an angel that I found. I feel this sums up our very own Belinda

A person of exemplary conduct or virtue. An angel is a loving and caring person. She/he will make your day brighter just being there. She/he has some sense of style. They can show you undying love and compassion. They can do great things. If you got yourself an Angel you’re lucky. Conventionally represented in human form with wings

Look out for those wings on Belinda next week :)

With lots of GG love for an amazing feel good week

Julia xxx